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Political Polarization

Definition

Political polarization refers to the divergence of political attitudes towards ideological extremes. It's when people's stances on issues become more extreme, and they are less likely to agree with one another.

Analogy

Think of political polarization like a giant tug-of-war game. On one side, you have people pulling for liberal policies; on the other side, you have those tugging for conservative ones. The rope in the middle represents moderate views, but as each side pulls harder, that middle ground becomes smaller and smaller.

Related terms

Partisanship: This is a strong bias in favor of a particular political party, often leading to unwavering support for its policies and candidates.

Ideology: A system of ideas or beliefs that form the basis of economic or political theory and policy. It can be seen as the fuel that powers the tug-of-war game in our analogy.

Bipartisanship: This is when members from both major political parties (in US context - Democrats and Republicans) work together on legislation or policy. It's like calling a temporary truce in our tug-of-war game.